Hawzah News Agency- According to Reuters, the Saudi-owned tanker Anselya was targeted in the Red Sea and caught fire. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for Ansarullah, confirmed that missiles and drones had struck the vessel as well as the tanker Layla. Reuters also reported that Yemeni forces targeted Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu, while Asian trading sources indicated that fuel storage tanks in Jizan may have been damaged.
Yanbu is a key outlet for Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea, allowing Riyadh to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Jizan, meanwhile, is home to a refinery with a capacity of approximately 400,000 barrels per day.
According to Greek security sources, two ballistic missiles heading toward Yanbu were intercepted by US-made Patriot systems operated in Saudi Arabia with the involvement of Greek personnel and advisers. Nevertheless, reports indicated that some projectiles penetrated the defenses, with damage reportedly sustained by fuel storage facilities in Jizan.
In response, the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes against Ansarullah positions in the port city of Hudaydah, while the air force of the self-proclaimed government based in Aden targeted weapons depots in Ma’rib and al-Jawf. Meanwhile, Brent crude prices reportedly surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time since May.
A Strategic Deadlock for Riyadh
What has unfolded this week goes beyond another routine escalation. It has exposed a strategic dilemma for Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has spent years using comprehensive economic and military pressure against Yemen. It now faces a countervailing equation that is increasingly difficult to escape: while tensions around the Strait of Hormuz threaten one of the kingdom’s traditional export routes, the alternative route through the Red Sea is also vulnerable to attacks by Ansarullah.
This creates a strategic double bind for Riyadh.
The reported inability of Patriot systems to completely prevent missile and drone attacks also raises questions about the effectiveness of sophisticated Western air-defense systems against relatively low-cost asymmetric warfare.
The broader lesson is not limited to Yemen. It challenges the assumption that expensive Western weapons systems can, by themselves, guarantee security and deterrence in a region increasingly shaped by asymmetric capabilities.
Part of a Wider Regional Battlefield
Developments in Yemen are also connected to the wider confrontation involving Iran, Israel and the United States.
Ansarullah's alignment with Tehran demonstrates what supporters of the Resistance Axis describe as a degree of strategic coordination among its members. This challenges portrayals of these actors simply as a collection of fragmented or clandestine proxies operating independently of one another.
From this perspective, resistance to blockade, military pressure and what Iran and its allies characterize as Western hegemony remains a central component of their strategic discourse.
At the same time, Riyadh and its Persian Gulf allies have long relied on Washington's political, security and military support. Critics argue that policies once justified in the name of regional security are now being judged by a different standard when similar forms of pressure are employed by Yemen.
This perceived double standard has increasingly become part of the regional debate over freedom of navigation and maritime security, potentially undermining the credibility of Western narratives on those issues.
What Options Remain for Riyadh?
Riyadh now faces a difficult strategic choice.
One option is to return to negotiations, with Oman continuing its mediation efforts and the parties seeking a political framework that addresses their respective security concerns.
The other is to continue a prolonged conflict whose economic costs could become increasingly significant for an oil-dependent kingdom.
For Iran and the broader Resistance Axis, the developments reinforce the argument that deterrence is no longer the exclusive domain of major Western military powers and their alliance structures.
The emerging regional equation is increasingly defined by pressure in response to pressure and by the ability of different actors to impose costs across multiple strategic fronts—from the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea to Bab al-Mandab, Aden and the wider West Asian theater.
The central question for Riyadh, therefore, is no longer simply how to contain Yemen. It is whether continued escalation can restore deterrence—or whether it will further expose the limits of a security architecture built heavily on external military support.
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